The present invention relates to evaluating barcodes, and more particularly relates to the detection and reporting of a defective barcode on a mail piece.
Throughout the history of the mail delivery, there has been a gradual evolution whereby the post office encourages mailers to prepare their mail in such a way as to reduce the effort required on the part of the post office for processing such mail. As an inducement to the mailer to prepare the mail in such a way so as to bring about faster mail delivery, the post office offers a postage discount to mailers for such items as presorted mail and printing of ZIP codes.
Recently, the United States Postal Service (USPS) has adopted new ZIP codes which contain more detailed destination information than the original five-digit ZIP code. One new form of ZIP code ("ZIP+4") contains an additional four digit extension which generally identifies an address within a side of residential block. A further enhanced ZIP code system utilizes 11-digit ZIP codes to specify a point of delivery.
Discounts are also given when the mail is marked with a barcode corresponding to the ZIP code. Barcoding enables mail sorting machines to more rapidly sort and route mail from a mailer to a receiver. The Postal Numeric Encoding Technique (POSTNET) was developed by the USPS to provide an optimized barcode system for encoding ZIP code information on mail.
One problem that arises in determining whether a mailer is deserving of a discount is the objective evaluation of barcode quality. One focus of this evaluation should be readability of the mail piece barcode. When a barcode cannot be effectively read or scanned by automation equipment, laborious manual handling of the mail piece typically results. Another troublesome barcoding defect is a barcode that does not correspond to the designated address. Such inaccurately barcoded mail pieces may be misdelivered and frequently result in additional manual handling. In addition to a more objective identification of barcode defects, a concise method of visually reporting and summarizing defects is needed to determine an effective corrective action. Also, such reporting is needed to support the refusal to award a discount to a mailer because of poor barcode quality.
Thus, there is a need for an evaluation system to efficiently detect mail piece barcode defects, including barcode readability and accuracy determinations, with a minimum of laborious operator activity. Preferably, this system should be capable of classifying and reporting a summary of classified defects to facilitate corrective action. Also, it would be preferred for this system to reduce the need for subjective identification and categorization of barcode defects by an operator.